Icy Adventure

Cold Shower

Some sort of ice cleats are a must when visiting waterfalls between the Winter and Springtime seasons in the South Dakota Black Hills, this is my favorite Wintertime shot of Spearfish Falls.

This year has been hot. Normally by October we have a foot of snow in the Black Hills but this year it was 60 degrees F in December,  completely unheard of!


I love being outside with just a camera and my shadow, this warmth has given me so much time for my work. I saw rain in November, the birds were singing on Christmas and I have loved every minute of it!


New Years came and went and I even began to believe Fall would carry us to Spring, the cold would have to wait until next year. But then, as with all late bloomers Winter came in like a hurricane. The temperature dropped to subzero, the roads turned to snow and the sky turned to gray.


Just when you think you are through, life just has to hit you with that cold shower.


Adventure at Windcave National Park


As you come into the park you have to wonder why it got the name "Wind" Cave,  maybe it is drafty?  A thermal vent somewhere pumping air from the depths of the Earth?  I was looking to find out when I stumbled upon a not so subtle reminder that the cave was not the only windy place in South Dakota.


I watched the gathering clouds as the Prairie winds pulled the Storm over my path. The setting sun just light enough to give it a warm glow to the West. As the wind picked up it shook the car and so I just had to pull over.


What a perfect opportunity to capture this little storm on the prairie. Maybe this is where that cave gets it name...

Backroads Prairie Storm at Windcave

Prairie Storm

This past Spring brought countless chances to shoot some epic thunderstorms such as this one over Windcave National Park in the South Dakota Black Hills.

Toadstool Geologic Park sunset pictures

Striking Contrasts

I stumbled upon this new Badlands location and was rewarded when the glorious sunset painted a captivating Sky at Toadstool Geologic Park in Nebraska, near the South Dakota border.

It was sometime around mid Autumn during a drive with my husband that we stumbled across Toadstool Geologic Park in the Nebraska Badlands which is near the South Dakota state line.


We did some hiking, explored and scoped out the area for some good compositions while  waiting for the sun to go down.  At first the sunset was uneventful and my hopes of snagging a spectacular sunset image were dashed.


At sunset it seemed as though the clouds were not in the right place along the horizon and I already had a fantastic composition set up so I felt it would be wise to wait a little longer.  


Immediately after the sun dipped below the horizon, from East to West the entire sky Exploded with color as I scrambled to get as many shots as I could, it was not a problem to find several compositions!

Yes it was most definitely worth the wait! 





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